The present disclosure relates to a vehicle door checker used to hold vehicle doors in one of a number of desired positions, for example, three-quarters open, one-half, and fully opened. Typically, a vehicle door checker assembly includes a checker arm pivotally attached at one or a first end to a frame or body of the vehicle. An other or second end of the arm extends through a checker housing and terminates or is received inside a vehicle door. As the door is opened and closed relative to the vehicle body, the checker housing slides over the arm between the first and second ends.
Reduced cross-sectional regions along the length of the checker arm, sometimes referred to as notches, correspond to the desired positions for holding the vehicle door partially or fully opened. A slider or elastic member made of an elastic material is retained in the housing and compresses against the outer surface of the arm to generate a detent, holding force on the arm. When the holding force is exceeded, the slider moves past the peak or notch in the arm.
The checker housing is usually mounted on the inside of the vehicle door, such as being bolted to an inner face of a door panel. Water can drip down through the vehicle door and rest on the checker harm. In sufficiently cold temperatures, the moisture is susceptible to freezing and forms ice on at least one of the door checker arm or inside the checker housing. This can adversely impact operation of the door checker assembly.
Current designs using EPDM or hard plastic to enclose the arm, and such arrangements are attached to the door checker housing. Commonly owned patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,816 employs a water management dam to provide a barrier in the door checker housing.
A need exists, however, to more effectively block water from reaching the door checker arm or door checker housing.